News

The biggest news this year is that the new trail up Lyon Mountain has been completed. ADK professional trail crew built nearly four miles of new trail over ten weeks in what Wes Lampman, Director of Field Programs, says will be one of the showcase trails. Algonquin Chapter donated $1,000 for the layout and design fund of this trail that was completed this season under a DEC State of New York contract. Algonquin chapter hiked the new trail and gave it very good reviews. It begins at the same place as the old trail and eventually hooks up with the old trail near the top. This will be a must do for our chapter next year.

Our Annual Meeting was held at the WSCS Camp on the Chateaugay Lake Narrows. We had balmy weather for the evening and a recap of summer, making it the most enjoyable evening on the porch before supper and the meeting. It was one of those halcyon days that are unforgettable. Several members were unable to attend. Bill and Sue Stamp were called to Colorado with a family illness, John Lawrence recently had surgery, and Sharon and Jim Votraw also have been tending to family illness. Bill and Jane Kelting were away on their trip to the Southwest. Miriam Golding, Wallace Westfield, and Ken and Barb Adams were volunteering at the Battle of Plattsburgh reenactment. Still, there were 20 of us there and even though we missed our friends, we had an enjoyable time. We brought photos of past trips and passed them around Howard and Karen Miller, new members, brought photos of our last paddle on Fish Creek.

At the opening of the meeting we remembered Ed Heck who recently passed away. Ed and Nancy were long time members of Shatagee Woods. Then Jim Humiston read the minutes of last year's meeting sent to him by Sharon Votraw who was standing in for Secretary Bill Kelting. Sounds a little complicated? It was a meeting full of substitutions. Ted Mills read the Treasurer's Report sent in by John Lawrence, and then he was Acting Secretary. This will be my sixth year as Chapter Chair and according to our ADK Charter, it is my term limit. I will be stepping down at the end of Summer 2009.

Conservation/Education

Business at our meeting involved a discussion about education of young people toward the value of the outdoors and the Adirondack Park. Chuck and Ann Hadden did a family and young people series of hikes on Wednesday's this summer, but participation was low and that may be due partly to the rainy weather. People with children and grandchildren interested in Wednesday outings please call Chuck and Ann (518 425-0316) and articulate your outing preferences. Our education chairs, Jim and Nancy Votraw, received no replies to the letter they sent to five area schools offering $250 toward an environmental project. Last year we purchased waders and rubber gloves for Chateaugay School for the Chateaugay River water studies program. The previous year we donated to the Saranac School and also volunteered our time to the building of a nature trail at the school. In lieu of a project this year, Shatagee Woods ADK will donate $250 to the purchase of books for young readers about the Adirondacks. The suggested books are, The Adirondack Kids series and Sherry Amsel books. Everyone was pleased to hear bout the completion of the new Lyon Mountain trail. We voted to donate $200 to the Adirondack Mountain Club for trail planning in our area, The Chazy Highlands Unit. We are specifically thinking of state lands and easement lands around Panther Mt in Merrill and Norton Peak near Standish. NY State DEC forester, Steve Gugliemi has indicated that trails in these areas are part of the plan. As with Lyon t., ADK trails crew under the leadership of Wes Lampman lay out the trails and then when DEC funds are available they hire ADK trail crews to do the work.

The Conservation Chair gave a talk on a concern for the Adirondack waters. More and more there is information about multinational corporations pumping water from an area, bottling it and selling it for profit. Ground water is not unlimited and in this time of global warming and population increases greedy eyes are turning to the areas with good water. Maine is presently considering some kind of legislation to limit multinational water mining. Vermont just passed legislation putting its ground water in the public trust (it previously had placed surface water in the public trust). A good book to read about this subject is Blue Gold, The Fight to Stop the Corporate theft of the World's Water, by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, New Press, 2005. Maude Barlow spoke to the Vermont legislature last winter on putting ground water in the public trust. Recently the issue has surfaced in New York State. The Adirondack Council pulbished a pamphlet Adirondack Waters: Resource at Risk. One of the concerns for Adirondack water is "water diversions." I quote from the article:

One threat that our region has only begun to face is out-of-basin water diversions, exports, or expropriations...Some of the biggest conservation battles of the future could be over attempts by corporations or governments outside the region to gain control over Adirondack waters, for private profit or to meet human demands in areas drier or more densely populated than the Adirondack Park. Some of the world's largest trans-national corporations are investing heavily in water bottling and export schemes, commodifying what has traditionally been recognized as a common resource. At least two bottling plants have been proposed for our area and more are likely to follow...The Adirondack Park presently has no law or authority to prevent underground water from being tapped and exported from private lands. Authority to prevent diversions is limited even for public lands and surface waters. Laws and plans are not currently in place to prevent a corporation from gaining access to and commercially exploiting the underground and surface waters of the Adirondacks.

I have asked the Conservation Committee to place the issue on the agenda for the October meeting to see how we can support exploring the new Great Lakes compact and other model agreements, policies, and laws that could prevent the commercial exploration of the region's waters.

Members

Shatagee Woods ADK
Summer 2008

News

Welcome to the summer season. Once again our world is transformed as if by magic. We are entering a time of hiking, paddling, fishing, and just plain enjoying sitting outdoors.

As you look at the summer outing schedule, notice that coming right up is an outing by Ken and Barb Adams. This is a trip to the Twin Valley lands owned by the State University of New York at Plattsburgh where Ken is a professor. The Twin Valley area is located near Essex in the south eastern part of the Park. The university owns cabins and a main hall for dinning. Tenting is also permitted. Ken has suggested that some people might like to come overnight and some for a day. There are miles of trails and Ken will lead hikes and enlighten us as to the flora and fauna of the area. It is close to the Bouquet River and Lake Champlain for paddling. This is a wonderful opportunity for Shatagee Woods ADK members, so contact Ken and Barb to sign up and get further information.

The summer schedule features Wednesday hikes with Chuck and Ann Hadden. They want to do lots of things with their grandchildren this summer, so please consider bringing children or grandchildren on these outings. Last summer I climbed Azure Mountain with them and it was a most delightful time.

The annual canoe camping trip co-lead by the Stamps and Humistons will be in the beautiful Little Tupper Lake and Round Lake area. There will be a planning meeting before the trip. Be sure to sign up will in advance.

Conservation

The most impressive conservation news is the installation of the large wind farm in the area just above the Park blue line in our North Country. This is not to be missed and can be seen by driving the side roads off Route 11 east of Chateaugay. This wind energy will provide a much needed alternative energy. Wind energy is better for the environment than flooding acres of land in Canada (Hydro Quebec) for hydro power or removing whole mountains in West Virginia for coal power. We need more wind, solar and other non polluting energy sources. All the work that has been done to conserve the Adirondacks will mean nothing if Global Warming is allowed to continue.

In the name of using less fossil fuel, we will want to be sure to car pool to outings and to chip in for gas for the driver.

On the invasive plant front, The Adirondack Invasive Plant Partnership (APIPP) has now become part of a statewide effort to control invasive species. APIPP will now extend it's jurisdiction to include the lands north of the blue line to the Canadian border. Work to identify and manage non-native invasives continues. Now APIPP surveys state lands for invasives when they come up for Unit Management Plan reviews. In our own area, APIPP will survey the lands from the Blue line north to Canada for invasives. If you are aware of invasives please call me. We continue to be on high alert for ornamental Jewelweed (purple flower) Impatiens glandulifrea. It was spotted on the west side of the Chateaugay Lakes in a ditch last year and removed. Other plants to look for and remove are Purple Loosestrife and honeysuckle bushes. Any non-native plant that is removed means a reduction in the seed source to reduce it's spread. Lists of invasive plants and more information can be found at www.adkinvasives.com

When buying new plants for landscaping, be sure to ask for native, non-invasive plants at the garden nursery. Believe it or not, invasive plants are sold! Native plants fit our environmental web offering food and shelter for our local creatures.

The other non-natives to consider are forest pests and fish diseases. The advice to prevent the spread of forest pests is to not move firewood around. Don't bring wood to your camping situation from more than 50 miles away. It is better to buy local wood. There are several serious threats to trees that could spread to our area. I'm sure that serious fishermen are aware that there are several serious fish diseases that threaten us. There are also the ubiquitous aquatic invasive plants and non-native baitfish to deal with. The advice in the fishing department is to clean all equipment after leaving a stream or lake in a weak bleach solution and hot water (if possible). This includes waders and other stream equipment to boats and trailers. Don't dump leftover bait in the water where these creatures might survive. We didn't have to do this in the past, but times change and it is necessary to change our practices too.

There is a new forester assigned to the Chary Highlands Unit. Sean Reynolds replaces Steve Guglielmi out of the Ray Brook office. I understand that there is an interim recreation plan that has been written by DEC for the Domtar Lands that have come into conservation in our area. When the State of New York pays The Nature Conservancy for the Domtar Lands, this interim recreation plan will be made public as the State of New York will open up state purchase and easement lands for use. Following these events Forester Sean Reynolds will work on a Unit Management Plan and public hearings will be held before it is final. Our Shatagee Woods Chapter has made our desires for specific trails known to the DEC and the ADK so hopefully they will be included in the plan.

This year I lost a friend from the Conservation Committee. Betty Lou Bailey who made sure that paddlers had access to water around dams died suddenly on an ADK bike trip. I will miss Betty Lou very much.

Members

New members, Kent and Denise Goodrow, St Regis Falls, NY joined us for several cross country ski events this winter. They own Siberian Huskies and enjoyed sled dogging. Miriam Goulding and Wallace Westfeldt are also new members. Miriam enjoys hiking, paddling, and XC skiing.

Director Report

Ken Humiston has attended the Director's Meetings at the Lake George Service Center. The major concern is that expenses are exceeding revenues by 3%. This is an obvious problem. Ken and the other directors discussed different options to increase income. Presently ADK is the leading conservation organization in the state. ADK welcomes suggestions concerning this financial problem.